Light primer strikes with MKII TRR-SR - HELP/advice please!

I wanted a bolt action .22 to teach my kid (one that doesn't even exist at this point) proper rifle fundamentals, so I bought a used MKII TRR-SR. I know very little about .22s, I've been a center fire guy as long as I've been in the military.

Anyway, I was surprised to experience a TON of light primer strikes on my first range trip. Some ammo did a lot better than others. Gemtech was the best with occasional failure to fire but the rifle absolutely hated Eley (0/10 didn't fire). However, I shot all of those light primer strikes out of a 10/22 without a hiccup. Looking at the casings, the Savage leaves a light, thin line on impact. The 10/22 was a wider, deeper bar.

Ok, so maybe it's the firing pin. I called Savage and they sent two firing pins - not to me but to Cabelas because apparently they can't send a non-serialized, stamped piece of metal to me but has to go to a FFL. That's *special*. After replacing the firing pin, light primer strikes have continued.

What do I need to do to get a deeper strike on the casing? I thought bolt action rifles would be more reliable than semi-auto's. I'd like to make this rifle perform like it should.

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Originally Posted by recon227

What do I need to do to get a deeper strike on the casing? I thought bolt action rifles would be more reliable than semi-auto's. I'd like to make this rifle perform like it should.

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Inspired by the light strike fix in the FAQ, I did something similar with my Mark II this evening. I hope to get to the range and try it tomorrow. I’ve also had plenty problems with mine.

I simply carefully removed about 1/10 millimeter in the two spots that would stop the firing pin from continuing forward.
the flat top that meets the breech of the barrel, and the front of the protruding part on the side of the firing pin which contacts inside the bolt. So now the theory is the striker part will travel about 1/10 mm further into the rim of the cartridge. We’ll see if it is enough to make a difference or I might take another 1/10 mm. I used my dremel and it went really fast, so be careful not to overdo it.

Of course it might be the cartridge is not properly seated in the chamber, which might cause the case to slide forward when hit by the firing pin and thus cause it to not fire. But I felt I needed to grind something, so now I did that.

I’ll try post a drawing.

Yeah, I hope I have more luck with the rifle than posting drawings.
I’ll let you know how it goes when I test fire. Hopefully soon.

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Originally Posted by Bttp

Yeah, I hope I have more luck with the rifle than posting drawings.
I’ll let you know how it goes when I test fire. Hopefully soon.

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It worked!
I had a single misfire in 250 rounds, firing Remington, RWS Rifle Match, Federal HP, S&B, Fiocci and Winchester.
100 of them were Federals that I have shot the most in the past, not because of accuracy but because I have many and were cheap. That is also the one I had the single misfire with.

I can recommend the procedure.

...oh and 50 Norma as well... must have shot 300 rounds then.